Even though it's several months away, it's not too early to prepare for the Solar Eclipse on Aug. 21st, 2017. This is because the sun's position today and tomorrow will be very close to this historic event. This also creates a good opportunity to prepare a location for viewing the space event. When preparing for an eclipse, an important aspect to consider is the sun's location in the sky - relative to your location. For the eastern third of the country, the time of greatest coverage of the sun by the moon will happen late morning and early afternoon.
Think about buildings and trees blocking your view of the sun during the August eclipse. You can get a very good idea of where the sun will be over Maryland during the eclipse, by noting its position today & Friday. Over the next 48 hours, the sun will track across the sky with a path very similar to the one it will take during the actual eclipse day on August 21st. Essentially, if you can get a good view of the sun today and tomorrow, you'll have no problem viewing the actual eclipse.
In fact, according to NASA - the path the sun will take on Friday, April 21st will be nearly identical to the track during the day of the eclipse.
Below is small list of some cities showing the times of the eclipse and how much of the sun will be covered. (100% equals a full solar eclipse.)
| Location | Maximum Eclipse | Percent Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Washington, D.C / Baltimore | 2:38 p.m | 81% |
| Salem, Oregon | 10:13 a.m. | 100% |
| Seattle | 10:16 a.m. | 92% |
| Los Angeles | 10:17 a.m. | 62% |
| Charleston, South Carolina | 2:38 p.m | 100% |
| Casper, Wyoming | 11:39 a.m. | 100% |
| Denver | 11:43 a.m. | 92% |
| Lincoln, Nebraska | 12:58 p.m. | 100% |
| Austin, Texas | 1:06 p.m. | 65% |
| Columbia, Missouri | 1:08 p.m. | 100% |
| Chicago | 1:15 p.m. | 87% |
| Nashville, Tennessee | 1:23 p.m. | 100% |
| New Orleans | 1:25 p.m. | 75% |
| Atlanta | 2:32 p.m. | 97% |
| Montreal | 2:34 p.m. | 58% |
| Washington, D.C. | 2:38 p.m. | 81% |
| New York | 2:40 p.m. | 72% |
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